Category: Musical Instruments
Asus Eee PC – the music producer's dream machine
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Back in the day, I was surprised when someone wanted to use my old Atari ST to make music on and it’s a similar feeling now that there’s rave reviews of the Asus Eee PC for the same reason.
Musicians have realised that these sub-notebooks, despite their diminutive stature, have enough under the hood to work as well as any turntable…
Guitar Hero 4 World Tour – and drum kit! – shown off
The lines are getting more than a little bit blurred out there in the music game world. Developer Harmonix, remember, created Guitar Hero for Activision, before being headhunted to invent Rock Band for MTV and Electronic Arts.
Now, in Guitar Hero 4, the Activision game is adding drums and microphone support, blatantly copying Rock Band and making pretty much everyone in the world more than a little confused about why the two series seem to be converging and eating each other in public. Here’s the official GH4 trailer:
Slightly insane. Playing guitar riffs on the drums? Singing? Lenny bloody Kravitz? With Rock Band taking off…
The Harpejji: Piano meets guitar meets hefty price tag
As a keyboard player who’d love to also be able to play the guitar, but can’t, this new instrument appeals to me.
The Harpejji takes the best characteristics of a guitar, and the same of a keyboard instrument, and combines them. This 24 string instrument features a visual matrix representing all the keys on a piano, and each string has a small piezo pickup embedded in its saddle, creating a clear representation of the natural string harmonics…
Stylophone goes 21st century
Rather deceptively called the Stylophone Original, this beauty is a near faithful reproduction of the original 70s electronic “musical” icon, but with some very 21st century tweaks…
Korg Kaoss Pad 3: touchy feely technology
The latest in KORG’s Kaoss Pad series expands on the tactile control system that makes sound processing and sampling a whole lot of fun…
Tonium launches Pacemaker DJ mix portal
Sorry, the elusive Pacemaker portable DJ gadget isn’t here yet, but an online DJ portal is. Coupled with a free PC/Mac music / mixing editor, the web site allows you to create your own mixes and share them with the community.
Tonium has apparently done deals with a number of international music publishing houses, so the resulting service should be fairly watertight legally…
Korg DS-10 synth for Nintendo DS – spark your own '80s electro pop revival
Classic 80s synthesizer, the Korg MS-10, is currently being recreated inside the diminutive Nintendo DS handheld console. Far from being some cheap hack ported on to a SD card and slapped into a dodgy machine, this is fully functioning, absolutely 100% official synth, drum machine and sequencer. It’s called the Korg DS-10 – can you see what they’ve done there?
Do a Jean Michel Jarre with your very own Laser Harp
Anyone remember Jean Michel Jarre’s laser performances, where he supposedly played synth leads by breaking laser beams? Some said it was fake, but nonetheless it is possible, as Stephen Hobley has proved with his Laser Harp.
To say it’s a custom build is an understatement. There are plenty of technical details on his web page, but if you just want to see it in action, take a look at the video below:
Shiny Video Review: Tonium's Pacemaker DJ mixer
Please don’t laugh at my DJ skillz when you watch the video above. I mean it – I will know if you do, and my feelings will be hurt so much they’ll shatter and break into a million little pieces. I may not be the next Carl Cox, but Tonium’s Pacemaker DJ mixer was so much fun to review, anyone who’s interested in electronic…
Tonium taking reservations for Pacemaker DJ mixer, available from next month
Back in May last year, I may’ve rashly described the Pacemaker Pilot DJ mixer as being ‘perfect for twatty Nathan Barley types’, due to its similarity to the TV character’s Wasp T12 Speechtool device. I’ve definitely changed my mind however, mostly because it’s launching next month, and I’m admittedly getting quite excited about such a nifty piece of convergence.
So what exactly is it? I’m glad you asked. Basically…
